Darkest Blood

Chapter Four

As the next couple of days went by, I forgot about the vision of the couple from Louisiana. I was busy training, going to Blackwell's and just enjoying the summer. Ad and I had decided to follow up on an annual tradition, where we'd take the train to New York City and get cookies. Nicola had had an uncle in the city, and she'd told us about the cookies years ago. Excited we'd bought train tickets to the city and ate the cookies in Central Park. It had been the hottest day during the summer, but the cookies had made it tolerable. Ever since, every summer, we'd go to New York City for a day to eat cookies from the local cookie-place. And hence, Ad and I now walked along Central Park, gushing about what kind of cookie, we should get. My favorite was double chocolate. Ad was one of those rare persons, who liked oatmeal and raisins in his cookies. We entered the small shop, where the cashier smiled to us. We bought our cookies and then went back to the park, where we sat down in the shade and watched the many squirrels running around. Not far from us, some children were playing around, trying to catch a squirrel.

"This. This is by far the best tradition in the world of traditions," Ad said, taking a bite of his cookie. I smiled at him with a slight panging inside. It was the first time, since Nicola had died, we'd been here.

"Not the same, though," I said. Ad looked at me, his glance sad.

"Nothing will ever be the same again, Penny. She was too big a part of our lives."

I smiled sadly. I took out the chocolate chip cookie, we had bought. It had been the kind, Nicola always ate.

"So, we honor her memory, by giving her a thought, investigating everything there is. And most importantly, enjoying our lives," I broke the cookie and gave Ad half of it.

He took it, careful not to touch a chocolate chip, seeing as they were slightly soft.

"And," said Ad, "by eating her favorite cookies."

He took a bite. I had finished my own cookie and couldn't stomach another one. Not even half a cookie. That was the problem with these cookies. One, and you were out of the game the next couple of hours. One of the squirrels neared us, the children from before giggling, as they followed it. Looking at the children, they didn't actually look... right. The child in the front was far too skinny. Her features were stretched out, and she looked too old to be a child chasing squirrels. She caught me looking, and I held back a gasp. Her eyes held a deep green color. Not green as a human's eyes. It was deeper. Enchanting.

"A Messenger," The child – or whatever – chimed, her voice high-pitched. I smiled at her – at least, I thought it was a her – unsure what to do. The other child looked up, and so did the person, I'd initially thought to be their parent. The creature, whatever it was, looked at me curiously.

"For you are a Messenger, are you not?"

I smiled shyly. "I am."

The creature squealed with delight, as the others came all the way over to me. The other 'child', came up to me, ignoring Ad. The child-creature-ting poked my arm slightly. His fingers were too long and thin. My heart was beating. Was this an attack?

"I've never seen a servant before," the creature giggled.

"I-I..." I had no clue what to answer.

One of the creatures, the one I'd presumed was a parent before, smiled at me. She (he?) too, had haunting eyes, these, however, were a glooming yellow.

"Fear not dear Servant, we are but curious, and willing to assist you in any matter, of course," she/he/it(?) said. I smiled.

"Duuuuuude," Ad said, drawing out the 'u'. "You guys are fairies!"